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View SlideshowRequest to buy this photoTom Dodge | DispatchThe controversial turn lane in Clintonville at E. North Broadway and N. High Street is open. Neighborhood residents say it has already decreased cut-through traffic on side streets.

After years of traffic studies, back-and-forth neighborhood fights and even a lawsuit against
the city, the left-turn lane from E. North Broadway to N. High Street in Clintonville is finally
open.

And so far, there are few — if any — complaints.

Even Carole Tomko, who leads the North Broadway Street Association and fought the project, has
nothing bad to say about the turn lane that opened around Halloween.

Traffic seems to be moving well, she said, and the turn lane isn’t clogged with vehicles. “I
stayed for a few turns of the light, maybe saw two cars.”

The project always seemed simple enough — the city would put in a turn lane to keep westbound
drivers on

E. North Broadway who couldn’t legally turn left onto southbound High Street from cutting
through narrow residential streets to do so.

But residents of E. North Broadway feared that the turn lane would be the first of many steps to
widen the street to four lanes between High and Indianola Avenue. They tied ribbons around the
giant trees they feared would have to go and put up protest signs on their lawns.

That section of E. North Broadway was added to the National Register of Historic Places in
2010.

In 2009, the Clintonville Area Commission voted in favor of the turn lane. In 2010, it voted
against it.

This year, after Mayor Michael B. Coleman told the community to decide, the area commission
again voted for it.

Despite the fears of some people, the project, which started about two months ago, widened only
a small section of North Broadway just east of High Street. No trees were lost. No yards were
ripped up. No history lost.

Brighton Road resident Sarah Snyder, who lives west of High Street, said it appears the turn
lane has successfully kept cut-through traffic off her street. She also said the new
right-turn-only lane from eastbound North Broadway to N. High has eliminated backups.

“Seeing how small of a project it is, it really does seem to have a noticeable impact already,”
Snyder said.

Clintonville Area Commission Chairman Daniel B. Miller said he’s heard no complaints from
anyone. “I’m pretty pleased with the outcome.”

The project is not officially finished. The city is planting six trees near the
intersection.

“They did a nice job with the aesthetics down there,” Tomko said. “It was worth five years of
fighting to save front yards.”

The project cost $405,000, including design and inspection costs, said Rick Tilton, Columbus
public service spokesman.